Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Since Halloween is right around
the corner, I thought I’d introduce you to Susan Muller, her heroine Jillian
Whitmeyer, and Jillian’s dead sister, Heather.Yeah, I said dead.Actually,
we’ve written up a short piece that involves Susan’s characters and a few of my
Shadow Falls characters, both live and dead.

Another day . .
. another dead body.

When Detective Adam
Campbell learns that a WWII gun is connected to several murders he’s
investigating, he hopes that tracking down the killer will be as easy as
tracing the gun’s history. When he meets Jillian Whitmeyer, the last known
owner of the weapon, the case becomes anything but simple.

Just because
you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

Adam soon learns that
people who get close to Jillian have a bad habit of turning up dead. Jillian
claims that the spirit of her sister, accidentally killed with that same gun,
is responsible for the deaths. She warns Adam that he is likely to become the
next victim. Adam’s been a lousy judge of women in the past and this one’s
obviously a nut case. Or is she? How does a just-the-facts detective deal with
a ghostly serial killer and the sexy-as-hell sister she won’t set free?

Shadow Falls
Camp is back in session with the most explosive installment yet.A shocking new threat will rock Shadow
Falls—changing it forever and altering Kylie’s journey in ways she never
imagined.

Even
at a camp for supernatural teens, Kylie Galen has never been normal. Not only
can she see ghosts, but she doesn’t seem to belong to any one species—she
exhibits traits from them all. As Kylie struggles to unlock the secrets of her
identity, she begins to worry that Lucas will never be able to accept her for
what she is, and what she isn’t…a werewolf.With his pack standing in their way, Kylie finds herself turning more
and more to Derek, the only person in her life who’s willing to accept the
impossible.

As
if life isn’t hard enough, she starts getting visits from the ghost of Holiday,
her closest confidante.Trouble is,
Holiday isn’t dead…not yet anyway.Now
Kylie must race to save one of her own from an unseen danger before it’s too
late—all while trying to stop her relationship with Lucas
from slipping away forever.In a world
of constant confusion, there’s only one thing Kylie knows for sure.Change is inevitable and all things must come
to an end…maybe even her time at Shadow Falls.

Kylie Galen
bumps into Jillian Whitmeyer for a discussion of all things dead.Well, not all things, just people - ghosts.

Kylie Galen stared down at the size C
bra she held, studied the silky lacy pattern, eyed the hook on the front.Stared really hard. Ever since her boobs miraculously grew—from a
B to a C cup, overnight mind you, Kylie hadn’t replenished her underwear
collection.

However, to be completely honest, her
fascination with the bra wasn’t about the bra.She stared at the undergarment so she wouldn’t have to stare at the
woman standing in front of her waving a gun around and pointing it at the heads
of the other women in the store line.

Kylie would simply prefer to fake
interest in the bra rather than let the woman, the dead woman, that is, know
that she could see her.Normally, she
didn’t ignore ghosts.Being a ghost
whisperer pretty much meant it was her job to take care of them.However, this ghost wasn’t here for
Kylie.She appeared to be with the woman
standing in front of her in line. Through her eyelashes, Kylie studied the tall,
spiky-haired brunette with the hint of a tattoo peeking out from her tank top. The fact that the woman did an in depth inspection
of the bra she held in her hand as well told Kylie that the brunette could see
the ghost, too.

Suddenly, the spirit turned and pointed the
gun, which looked like something from an old WWII movie, right at Kylie’s
forehead. All her faked interest in the bra stopped and she looked up.There was just something about having a gun
pointed at you that couldn’t be ignored.

“Stop it,” the spiked hair woman hissed
and glared at the ghost.

The spirit shot a smile full of malice at the woman
then gaped at Kylie.“Shit…you can see
me, can’t you?”She glanced back at the
woman again.“Hey…she can see me.How cool is that?”

Kylie didn’t wait for her answer.“Not so cool.” She walked away and re-shelved
the bra.She’d buy underwear later.Obviously her presence was aggravating the
ghost.She got about ten feet from the
store when she heard footsteps chasing after her.She turned to find the spiked-haired woman
running toward her.Kylie automatically
did what all supernaturals did. She
tightened her eyes and studied the woman’s brain pattern to see what she
was.There were all sorts of species
living on earth, from vampires to witches.To whatever the hell Kylie was.Yup, she was a mystery to even the supernatural world. Much to Kylie’s surprise the woman’s pattern
showed her to be human.Very few
normals could see ghosts.What was up
with that?

“Can I talk to you?” the spiked-haired
woman asked.

Kylie frowned.It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to
this woman, but face it, the conversation was gonna be one of those weird
ones.Weird as in – ‘Hey, did you see
that ghost?’

It wasn’t a conversation Kylie looked
forward to having.

“Just a few minutes.I’ll buy you a soda.”The woman pointed to a diner across the
street.“I’m desperate.”

Crap!Desperate people always got to Kylie.

* **

Jillian Whitmeyer walked inside
the diner that smelled like apple pie and studied the young girl.She didn’t know her from Adam, didn’t have a
clue what to say, but the fact that she could see Heather freaked her out.

“How about a piece of that pie
that smells so good?” Jillian still didn’t know how to start this conversation,
but teenagers were always hungry, weren’t they?

“A soda will be fine. I really
need to get back.” The girl kept her head down, avoiding eye contact with
Heather, who had grabbed a chair and joined them.

A waitress took their order and
returned with two diet sodas before Jillian had time to plan the best way to
approach the girl. She looked about sixteen, but her eyes said that she’d seen
more than she should have.

“I’m Jillian and this is
Heather.” Heather had changed from the low-cut, sequined cocktail dress and
Jimmy Choo’s she wore in the lingerie shop into capris and jeweled sandals. Her
idea of appropriate diner duds?

“Kylie,” the girl mumbled. “You
know your ghost’s name?”

“Well, sure. She’s my sister.
When you see ghosts, you don’t know who they are?”Jillian took a chance with that question. If
Kylie saw Heather, she probably saw other ghosts, too.

“No. They usually don’t remember
their names. That makes it tough to solve their problems for them. Take the one
over there,” Kylie nodded toward the back of the diner. “She’s really a pain in
the ass.”

Jillian spun around and caught
sight of a woman in a bloody dress, dragging a sword. No wonder the girl looked
frightened. Jillian was pretty darn frightened herself. Could that sword
actually harm someone? Someone living?

Kylie’s ghost swung the sword in
a figure eight and drops of blood flew across the room, landing on Heather’s
capris.

Heather jumped up, knocking her
chair back. “That’s it. I was willing to overlook your obvious bad fashion
sense, but now you’ve ruined my outfit and I have no intention of letting that
slide.”

“What are you going to do?”
Jillian whispered to Heather.

“Take her outside and teach her
some manners.” Heather grabbed the other ghost’s arm and pulled her through the
diner as if to take her to the back alley.

“Oh, good,” said Kylie’s
ghost.“I’ve been dying to use my sword
on someone again.”

Jillian looked at Kylie.“Should we do something?”

Kylie shrugged.“What are they going to do?Kill each other?They’re already dead.”Kylie sighed. “Is your sister always that
mad? She had a gun in the store. What was that all about?”

“A lady walked through her and
cut in line ahead of us. She doesn’t like to be disrespected.”Jillian paused and then jumped right in. “You
said ghosts ask you to solve their problems.What does this one want you to do?” The more she could learn about
handling ghosts, the better. And Kylie seemed to have experience.

“For me to kill someone.”

Jillian nearly choked on her
soda.“You’re not going to do it, are
you?”

“I hope not.”Kylie finished her soda and swirled the ice
cubes. “But sometimes ghosts have a way of getting what they want.”

“I know what you mean,” Jillian
said.

Kylie frowned.“What does Heather want?”

“Just my body. She wants to live
my life for me because she doesn’t think I’m doing that great a job with it.” Jillian
realized that Heather might be on the right track with that one. She really wasn’t doing so hot these days.

“That sounds like a bummer. What
would happen to you?”

“I have no idea, but I don’t
intend to find out. I mean, would you trust her?” Her sister had made her life
miserable for years, but now she was trying to hurt a cop.More specifically, the really hot homicide detective Jillian really liked.

Kylie glanced at the back door.
“Probably not. They’re not all nice, you know. Ghosts, I mean. I don’t know
about your sister.” She looked back at Jillian. “What do you plan to do?”

“I plan to get rid of her, just
as soon as I figure out how,” she whispered, hoping Heather was too busy
fighting in the alley to be listening.

“That’s sort of my plan, too,”
Kylie said. “But while they’re busy, why don’t we run back across the street
and buy those bras?”

***

Want
to learn how Kylie and Jillian get rid of their pesky spirits and discover why
both of them were buying sexy bras?Read
The Secrets on Forest Bend bySusan Muller and Whispers at Moonrise by C.C. Hunter, AKA Christie Craig

And
to celebrate Halloween, three people will receive copies of both Whispers at Moonrise and The Secrets on Forest today.So leave me a comment telling me about your plans on Halloween or, tell
me if you believe in ghosts – if you dare!

15 comments:

I don't necessarily believe in ghosts, but I watched a show recently called Haunted House for Sale on DIY and at first I was laughing at the ridiculousness, but when the paranormal investigators caught 'disembodied voice's' supposedly saying "out of the room" and "warning" it kind of freaked me out. Add that to watching the latest The Walking Dead and a massive wind storm blowing in that same night, needless to say I didn't get much sleep!

I definitely believe in ghosts. I've come into contact with more than one. One ghost lived in my friend Cheryl's house. Every time I walked through the door the house smelled of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Things were fine until Tommy (Cheryl's boyfriend) moved in. Turns out Cheryl's ghost didn't like men. The ghost started pulling pranks--nothing too bad, but definitely not nice. Cheryl could feel her anger and told her that Tommy was there to stay, and if she didn't like it, she could go. Cheryl was in the back of the house. She heard the front door open and then slam. That was the last she saw of her ghost.

When I went back home to Boise a few years ago, walked into Cheryl's house and didn't smell the cookies. I asked what happened to her ghost. Cheryl told me she'd moved out and told me the story. I kind of miss the ghost--there's nothing like the smell of chocolate chip cookies.

When we moved to an older home in our neighborhood and after we settled in, strange sensations would overcome me. The dogs began behaving oddly as well. I did feel the presence of an old resident whose lived there a long time. Sometimes he would advise me.

I comepletely believe in ghosts but I can't say I have ever encountered one. There was a time when I was standing in my kitchen and felt someone shove my shoulders down...it was enough that I moved. I was even a little mad thinking a family member was playing a trick on me only no one was there. My mom also told me she has seen an old woman dressed in old-fashioned clothes once. Her senses could be keener than mine.

I do believe in ghosts. I've had a few experiences that can't be explained any other way.

Halloween I have to work so I'll just hand out candy. I hate that my daughter is too old to trick or treat anymore. I loved going out with her. I plan on going to see Paranormal Activity 4 this weekend and maybe hitting up one of the haunted houses. I love Halloween.

Ooo...definitely believe in ghosts. We have one in our house. The ghost keeps moving things on us. Lot's of things come up missing. My hubby has felt something touching him. At night we hear something walking in the hall on our creaky floors. We have lived here for 25 plus years so we have got used to it.

I love Halloween! I used to dress up but anymore I just decorate and hand out candy to the neighbor kids. I remember as a kid planning my route for trick-o-treating with my friends. We would remember last year how we would be pooped by the time we reached the end of so-so road, so we would revise our walking route to get more candy at the most houses. Plus, we devised costumes that were easy to walk in, so they didn't weigh us down. We always used big tote bags for our candy, since they had such durable handles. Sure miss those days!

Although I have no ghost stories, I do believe anything is possible. I love reading about them. To start off the holiday, we have a pumpkin carving party every year which is tons of fun. Later we have a dress-up Halloween Party at our American Legion. And sometimes I dress up just to hand out candy. It's such a fund holiday!

The Crime

The authors of this blog are hereby charged with writing Killer Fiction novels responsible for spontaneous outbursts of laughter in public places, uncontrollable swooning over larger-than-life heroes, and the deaths of countless fictional villains.

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